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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26744011">you're a part time lover &amp; a full time friend</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikeywaters/pseuds/mikeywaters'>mikeywaters</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Childhood Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining, Repression, alex's parents are homophobic, bi reggie, found family trope, idiots to lovers, luke is touch starved and theyre all affectionate as hell, pan luke, reggie has a shitty home life, they all have strained parental relationships, they both have adhd no i will not be elaborating, ~but they have each other~</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:15:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,001</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26744011</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikeywaters/pseuds/mikeywaters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>a look into reggie and luke's relationship over the years and how reggie finally stopped ignoring his feelings.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Luke Patterson/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Past Luke Patterson/Alex (Julie and The Phantoms)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>426</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you're a part time lover &amp; a full time friend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They'd always been close, Luke and Reggie. Since they met on the first day of preschool and Luke had seen Reggie in the corner huddled up with his knees pressed to his chest, crying for his mommy. He walked up to the boy and hugged him immediately. The teacher had told him off for it later, telling him that he needed to learn proper boundaries but Reggie clung to Luke for the rest of the day, and pretty much for the rest of their lives after that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Alex’s family moved to the neighbourhood in the fourth grade and Alex started attending their school, Reggie and Luke were the first people to go sit with him at lunch, quick to invite him to sit with them at every lunch period after that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The three of them were inseparable, even through high school. Bobby joined the band in the 8th grade and they liked him well enough but they never clicked with Bobby like they did with each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was always Alex, Luke and Reggie. The three of them against the world. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Alex came out to the band as gay he was met with nothing but support, even if their group weren't the most knowledgeable about the subject, they loved their friend. In their minds, no matter what other people said, anything that Alex said he was couldn't be a bad thing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobby made a few untasteful comments over the course of their friendship, mostly when Alex made a comment about finding a guy attractive, but he was quick to shut his mouth when Luke and Reggie glared at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Reggie would come to band practice with a bag packed and tear streaks down his cheeks, Luke would make sure no one mentioned it. Alex knew, of course, he interrogated Luke after he started connecting the dots between the way Reggie would only let them go to his house when one of his parents wouldn't be home, the way he would shut down and go non-verbal whenever someone raised their voice and the way he tensed whenever someone mentioned his father. Luke had explained that Reggie's parents fought a lot, how they were one fight away from divorce at this point. He wouldn't go into detail, Alex didn't need details anyway. He knew Luke was there for him, and that was all he needed to know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As much as they were all best friends, it was different for Luke and Reggie. They'd known each other the longest, sure, but it was more than that. Sometimes they would share glances like they were having silent conversations, even without intending to. Alex never took it personally, he'd known since the day they all came together that they had a connection between them that would never be broken. They just understood each other better than anyone else could. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which is why, Reggie knew before either of them when Luke started to look at Alex differently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few months after Alex came out to them Luke had started to ask questions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So how did you </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> you were gay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I mean, you don't like girls at all?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What if someone liked boys </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> girls?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why does someone's gender even matter anyway? If you love someone, you love them. Other stuff shouldn't matter.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was soon after that, that Luke admitted that he was starting to think he wasn't straight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Guys I think I might be gay.” He blurted out after band practice one day, Reggie choked on the piece of pizza he was practically inhaling at Luke's abrupt subject change. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You're not gay.” Bobby scoffed, gaining a not so subtle punch in the leg from Reggie and death glare from Alex.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not that we're not supportive of whoever you are but Luke, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span> girls.” Alex responded gently and Luke sighed, flailing his hands in the air in exasperation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But recently I realised that I kinda like dudes sometimes too… and wouldn’t that make me gay?” Luke asked, looking incredibly troubled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. It makes you Luke. And if you like girls and boys then that's just what makes you special.” Reggie grinned, poking Luke in the cheek to make him smile. It worked because </span>
  <em>
    <span>of course </span>
  </em>
  <span>it did. They just always knew what the other needed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Reggie’s right, plenty of people like both. There's no need to put a label on your feelings.” Alex smiled supportively.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, labels are </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> not punk anyway.” Reggie mumbled as he stuffed more pizza in his mouth. Luke practically beamed back at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>It was about two weeks later when Alex and Luke announced they were dating. Reggie wondered if there was a name for the way it felt like his heart dropped down into his stomach. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was supportive, of course he was. His two best friends, his </span>
  <em>
    <span>favourite </span>
  </em>
  <span>people were dating. This was a good thing. At least that's what Reggie had to remind himself every time he saw them hold hands or act even remotely romantic towards each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He told himself it was because he was afraid of being left out, and to his credit, he was. Sometimes when they would hang out without Reggie he'd send himself into a spiral thinking his friends secretly hated him and thought he was annoying. They picked up on this pretty quickly though, and were even quicker to remedy the situation by bringing Reggie along pretty much everywhere they went. It always kind of felt like something was missing when Reggie wasn't there anyway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This went on for six months before Alex and Luke broke things off, they told Reggie and Bobby it was mutual, that they loved each other but not romantically and they were ready to go back to just being best friends. It was still weird for a while, there was undeniable tension during band rehearsals and whenever the other brought up other crushes or people they found attractive, even Reggie, who had been told how oblivious he was his entire life, noticed how the energy in the room changed. His friends were upset and they were learning how to go back to how things were and Reggie was </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrified.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He spent most nights during that period of time crying himself to sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke picked up on it. Of </span>
  <em>
    <span>course </span>
  </em>
  <span>he did. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had asked one night when they were having a sleepover, gentle as ever like he was scared of hurting Reggie’s feelings, “You seem so on edge lately. You're okay right? We're okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reggie had forced a laugh, looking up at the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling to avoid looking Luke in the eyes. “What are you talking about? I'm fine.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Reggie…please. I miss you.” Luke pleaded pathetically, and that was enough for Reggie to abandon all avoidance and meet Luke’s eyes. He looked sad, his eyes were rimmed with dark circles like he'd been losing sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean? I'm right here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke had frowned at that. Reggie tried his best to ignore the way disappointing Luke felt like being sucked in by quicksand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That's not what I meant. I miss </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You've been acting so… like you're always holding your breath. That's the way you act around your parents, like you're waiting for something to go wrong. You never used to act like that around us, around </span>
  <em>
    <span>me.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Luke pressed, sounding so desperate for answers that Reggie felt his resolve crumbling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He inhaled a shaky breath, but it was Luke reaching out for a hug that made Reggie break. He clung to Luke like that first day of preschool and let sobs wrack his body. Luke clung back just as tightly and rubbed his back as he cried, making no move to speak until Reggie's breathing evened out and his grip on Luke's shirt loosened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You and Alex.” Reggie finally spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about us?” Luke questioned, pulling back to look at Reggies face. He automatically began to use his thumb to wipe away Reggie's tears. Reggie ignored how that made his chest feel tight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What if you never go back to how things were? What if things stay this tense and </span>
  <em>
    <span>awful</span>
  </em>
  <span> forever? What if the band breaks up and we all stop being friends? I can't </span>
  <em>
    <span>lose</span>
  </em>
  <span> you guys, Luke.” Reggie spoke quickly, as if the words were escaping without his permission.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Reg.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Luke frowned, pulling him in for another hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alex and I will be fine, I promise you that. Things are just a little weird right now but we'll get back to normal, this is just a little adjustment.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reggie sniffled from his place, buried in Luke's neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And Reggie, you know I'm not going anywhere right? I'm always going to be right here with you.” Luke pulled him back again as he spoke, looking him right in the eye as he promised not to leave. He was always awfully persuasive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a beat Reggie let out a breathy laugh and Luke smiled at him fondly, pressing their foreheads together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s so funny, Reginald?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I feel kind of stupid for getting so upset- I just- when things got really tense… It reminded me of my parents. I don't want any of us to end up like them.” Reggie whispered, like he was afraid his parents would hear despite the fact they weren't even at home that night. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That won't happen, Reg. I'm sorry we made you feel like that.” Luke spoke softly, his sincerity made Reggie feel himself start to well up with tears again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just… Don't leave okay?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke paused before pressing a kiss to Reggie's hair. “Never.” </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke stuck to his promise, he didn't leave. Things went back to normal for the most part too, eventually. The band was doing so well that there wasn't really room for awkward tension anyway. Everyone was far too focused on setlists and new songs and making sure their instruments didn't fall apart on stage for there to be weird energy anymore. Reggie was very grateful for that. It meant he could finally let go of the tension and fear of losing his best friends in the way it felt like he was losing his family. But just when things got better, they got bad again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke ran away from home, he had an argument with his mom and ran out on her. Reggie found him in their rehearsal space when he ran away from one of his parents' fights. Luke said nothing at first, only gestured for Reggie to join him on the pull out bed. They stared at the roof in silence until Luke broke down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seeing Luke cry was jarring. Reggie couldn't recall a time he'd seen Luke cry before this, it was different than when Reggie or Alex cried. It was quiet, non-dramatic, intense. It was Luke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke was </span>
  <em>
    <span>crying</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Reggie was totally unprepared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Throughout their entire friendship Luke had been the strong one, he always knew what to say, what to do to fix things. He was Reggie's anchor when his own brain conspired against him, Alex’s support when his parents acted like he was throwing away the life they had planned for him for a life of sin. Reggie was completely out of his element here, his mind racing trying to find a solution that would take away all of Luke's pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before he could do anything though, Luke reached out and intertwined their hands. “I can hear you overthinking from here.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reggie ignored the way his stomach flipped and let out a small laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How is it you're the one crying and </span>
  <em>
    <span>you're </span>
  </em>
  <span>comforting </span>
  <em>
    <span>me?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Reggie asked, finally reaching out to wipe away Luke’s tears. He ignored how he lost his breath when Luke leaned into his touch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is for me too.” He said simply, squeezing Reggie’s hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I fought with mom. She found out about our show at The Orpheum. Stupid me, I thought she'd actually be happy for me. Turns out it's just another way I've disappointed her.” Luke explained after five minutes of comfortable silence while they both looked at where their hands were connected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She'll come around, we'll prove them all wrong.” Reggie smiled, squeezing Luke’s hand. He smiled fondly back at Reggie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I ran away Reg. I know she just wanted a brighter future for me or whatever but… I really needed to hear that she was proud of me. Just this once. When it turned into a fight I just grabbed my stuff and left.” Luke spoke shakily, looking up at the ceiling like it would stop the tears from falling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit, dude.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke shrugged, like he was trying to minimise his own pain. He started to speak, and Reggie knew, because of </span>
  <em>
    <span>course </span>
  </em>
  <span>he did, that he was starting to change the subject. Probably to ask Reggie why </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>had come to the rehearsal space tonight, but before he could continue Reggie launched forward, crushing him in a hug. Luke paused momentarily, shocked from the suddenness of Reggie’s actions, before long though he gasped out a sob and clung to him like he was air supply. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'm </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> proud of you Luke.” </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Alex and Bobby got to the rehearsal space in the morning, they didn't mention the bags by the door, or how obvious it was neither of them had gotten any sleep that night.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The Orpheum show was their big break. Finally they would prove everyone who doubted them wrong, this was the beginning of Sunset Curve finally </span>
  <em>
    <span>making it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Or at least it should have been, instead it was the night Reggie, Alex and Luke died. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last thing they remembered that night was floating up out of their own bodies in the ambulance, ending up in a dark room for what felt like an hour, then falling into their rehearsal space only 25 years later and meeting Julie Molina. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Time went by fast as they all adjusted to their new ‘lives’ or whatever their equivalent to that was. They had more questions every day, and no answers in sight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They had each other though, and that's what got them through. They had their music too, and now that they knew people could see them when they played with Julie they had their dream back. A ‘second chance’ as Luke put it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They all coped in different ways, Luke went to visit his parents almost daily. Watching as they lived their lives without him, mourning the loss of their son. Wishing there was some way he could talk to them one more time, apologize for how things were left the night he ran away. Alex met Willie, who seemed like the only person who understood exactly how he felt. He found himself thinking of the connection he'd found with Willie as his own version of what Reggie and Luke had. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Understanding.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Reggie found comfort in talking to Julie’s dad, Ray. He couldn't hear Reggie, had no idea he even existed, but Reggie found it comforting all the same. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seeing the way Ray treated his children left Reggie with a quiet kind of fascination. Although Reggie loved his own father he was so different to Ray who was caring and understanding with his children. He never yelled or used their own words against them, never talked about his wife maliciously. He trusted his kids and for that, they trusted him back. Reggie wondered what that felt like. So, when he had a moment to himself, he'd watch Ray. Sometimes he'd even talk to him and act like Ray could hear him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke and Julie got close too. Julie lost her mom and in a way, Luke did too. They both used music to cope though, and they spent a lot of time writing music together. They connected. Reggie ignored how that made him feel like he was drowning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex picked up on it too, they both teased Luke whenever they practiced alone when Julie was at school.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You guys </span>
  <em>
    <span>ooze</span>
  </em>
  <span> chemistry.” Reggie stated, hating how awful just entertaining the idea of Luke and Julie having feelings for each other made him feel.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should never say </span>
  <em>
    <span>ooze</span>
  </em>
  <span> again but yeah, I agree.” Alex teased. Luke scoffed, taking his guitar strap off and putting the guitar back onto its stand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay no, I have chemistry with everyone I sing with. Seriously, watch.” Luke responded before walking closer to Reggie and beginning to sing the lyrics to the song they were rehearsing to play tonight. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I believe, I believe that we're just one dream</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>away from who we're meant to be.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He got closer until he was practically chest to chest with Reggie, he reached up and grasped Reggie’s neck possessively, pulling him even closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That we're standing on the edge of great</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a moment after Luke stopped singing when they were just staring into each other's eyes. Reggie felt as though everything shifted into place. All of the feelings he'd tried to push away and ignore over the years flooded him all at once and this, </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>he couldn't ignore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a moment, he could have sworn Luke's eyes shifted towards Reggie’s lips but before he could process that information they both heard Alex begin to speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow. I see chemistry.” He stated quietly, a small smile on his face that read as though he was finally understanding something for the first time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was pretty hot!” Reggie blurted out before he could stop himself. Luke just smiled, removing his hand from the back of Reggie’s neck to kiss two of his fingers and press them to Reggie’s lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt like his brain was malfunctioning, none of the things he was feeling made any sense. The same could be said for Luke's actions, or the amused look on Alex’s face. Reggie felt a little bit like he was losing his mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Girls am I right?” Reggie choked out, feeling like he needed to make a joke from the situation to control his thoughts and make sense of the situation. He barely heard Luke and Alex respond, the voices around him sounded like they were under water. Reggie panicked and made some lame excuse before poofing himself out of the room and onto the beach. Right by where his home used to be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sat with his knees brought up to his chest in the sand. His thoughts were a jumbled mess and yet the only thing he was able to understand was that he was in love with Luke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no question about it. Reggie didn't know when it began, maybe it had always been there, lying under the surface threatening to break through at any moment. Maybe, like most things, Reggie had been the last to notice. All he knew was that he was undeniably in love with his best friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Over time, Reggie got used to the idea of being in love with Luke the only way he knew how.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By talking to Ray.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He thought he was alone, Julie and Carlos were at school, Alex was out with Willie and Luke had gone to visit his parents. Reggie was sitting at the kitchen table watching Ray edit some of his photos on his laptop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ray what would you do in my situation? I mean I spent my whole life thinking certain things about myself, thinking I understood my own mind and feelings and then all of a sudden it's like I don't know myself at all!” Reggie ranted, slumping his head into his hands as Ray continued his work unaware of the teenage boy just a seat away spilling his heart out to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean it's like… this changes </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And what if I’m not ready for things to change? Even through everything I've been through I've </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> had Luke.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I tell him that I lo-...If I tell him how I feel it could ruin everything. I can't lose him.” Reggie choked out, tears spilling out before he could stop them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't notice Ray get up and walk away, nor did he notice when Luke appeared in the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You're not going to lose me, Reg.” He heard Luke’s voice from behind him. He froze, feeling as though his stomach could have dropped through the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'm sorry, my parents were out so I came back and heard you talking to Ray and I was gonna sneak up and scare you but then… I heard what you were talking about.” Luke rushed out, reaching out to touch Reggie’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reggie raised his head and looked beyond Luke, not trusting himself to look his best friend in the eyes. “H-how much did you hear.” Reggie asked shakily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Enough.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luke I- I'm so sorry can we just… I just really want to forget I ever said that. I don't want things to be weird between us I mean.. I know they probably just </span>
  <em>
    <span>will</span>
  </em>
  <span> be but I can't- I </span>
  <em>
    <span>can't </span>
  </em>
  <span>lose you Luke you're my best friend and I- I know you have this </span>
  <em>
    <span>thing</span>
  </em>
  <span> with Julie and I'm happy for you.. Really all I want is for you to be happy I swear Luke I-” Reggie rambled, pulling at his hair and fidgeting with the sleeves of the flannel shirt he was wearing before Luke grabbed his hands, intertwining them with his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Reggie, I’m not going to lie. I do have a connection with Julie. But it's not like you think it is, it’s not- It's not romantic. At least not for me, the connection Julie and I have is different. We understand each other and I believe we were brought into her life because we </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> connected somehow but Reggie, I don't feel that way for her.” Luke began to speak and Reggie looked up, into his eyes for the first time and felt his mouth go dry when he was met with Luke's intense gaze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But the connection you and I have? Reggie we know each other better than we know ourselves. We have always connected to each other in a way that no one else has and I didn’t understand it at first. Until the night I ran away from my house, in the garage. You hugged me and said you were proud of me and it was this moment for me where I thought </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Oh. I'm in love with him.’</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Luke finally said, the tears in his eyes mirroring Reggie’s own as both of their grips on each other's hands tightened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course I'm in love with you, Reg. It's always been you.” Luke breathed out with a laugh, letting go of Reggie’s hands to cup his cheeks and crash their lips together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their first kiss was messy and there was a little too much force as a result of their desperation. It was salty from each of their tears and it was clumsy and so </span>
  <em>
    <span>them</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they separated they paused before laughing, not at each other, the situation wasn't inherently </span>
  <em>
    <span>funny. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Their laughter was a result of both of their sudden overwhelming joy and </span>
  <em>
    <span>relief </span>
  </em>
  <span>that they were on the same page. Because of course they were. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their second kiss was more gentle, their laughter died down as they stared into each other's eyes and one of Luke's hands traveled to the back of Reggie’s neck before pressing their lips together again softly, they kissed each other gently like this moment had to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>savoured</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Eventually they were both smiling too much for it to even be considered a kiss and it was only an excited exclamation from behind them that separated them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well finally!” Alex grinned from the doorway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I've been watching the two of you dance around your feelings for each other for so long I was starting to lose faith. And patience.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reggie and Luke couldn't even bring themselves to be embarrassed as they fell into giggles, still holding onto each other. “Okay we have </span>
  <em>
    <span>got </span>
  </em>
  <span>to start announcing ourselves when we teleport into a room!” </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*hyperfixation noises*</p></blockquote></div></div>
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